Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-03-12
LIFE IN NEW YORK.
Some Industrial Aspect~-A Dressm.kers'
Ball Described.

baii Desfrfbed-
Special Correspondence
NEW YORK, March THE other day /
wanted some sewing done, and determined to
try ami find some nice middle aged woman
a wIdow-whu kept a little thread and needle
store on Third avenue and took in sewing
when lived farther down town than now,
and who at tnat time did great deal of tLo
plain sewing Of my family. Mrs. B.
was a very small and very quiet woman. who
had been left widow with three children
and sn aged mother to take care of under
circumstances that seemed a hopeless as they
well could i've. But she acquired a little money
from the fund Of a society of which her husband
was member, and with this she bought
small stock of thread and needles, tape
ribbons and paid months rent in advance
for her little store and rooms Her mother
took care of the children and helped with the
work Of the house. while Mrs. B. took charge
of the store and sewed, when not waiting
upon customers, from morning till night The
children occasionally helped in the store out
of school hours. but their mother was
ambitious for them and the most indefatig-
able worker, for such little bit Of woman,
You ever saw.
Years went on; the children had grown
into young man and womanhood: the little
mother looked older and paler, but kept the
store and sewed as industriously as ever. All
the time that was not claimed by customers
was spent in making garments which were
displayed in the window and sold to the poor
women Of the neighborhOod, for themselves
and their children. She had also added TO
her stock such materials as were used in
making undergarments, aprons, wrappers
and the like, and the quality was so good
the price 50 moderate that many OF her
patrons preferred to have her furnish the
goods as well as the workmanship, and thus
add a small profit to her modest charges Her
daughters had grown into very nice looking
girls. They were never seen upon the street,
but so rarely in the little shop that neighbors
began To make remarks and consider it n
shame with the sympathetic benevolence
that so many people exhibit in attending TO
other peoples affairs.
But the little woman, who had never
changed the fashion Of her plain black dress
and white apron. took no notice She hal
determined that her daughters should go
through normal college, and they did, grad
uating with honor. She had determines, tha.
her boy should go through the New York
college. and he did: bur somewhat to her dis
appointment, decided to 90 into business, in
stead Of finishing up at Columbia or Harvard,
as she hal hoped. About this time her
mother died, and left that part Of town.
heard nothing of her for several years. ex-
pt that the store hal been given up atsi the
young people had all obtained positions-the
boy aS clerk down town. the girls as teachers
IN the preparatory department Of the college
When ! rung the bell of the neat little
house. on side street, the other day, shere
had been told Mrs. B. lived, a clean but
diminutive German maid servant opened the
door, and IN reply TO my inquiry asked me TO
walk into the parlOr. 1t was a pretty room,
simply furnished, but with books and late,
magazines upon tn. table | hardly liked to
state my erTsnd to Mrs. B. when she ell
tered, though there was little difference in
her appearance She still wore plain black
dress, but the apron had disappeared, and her
face was quite free from the restrained look
of care which formerly possessed it,
NO, do not take in any more sewing, she
said IN reply to my inquiry. We managed to
purchase and pay for this little house before
gave up, assisted by a small sum left me bv
my mother The girls are both teaching, are
very much liked and the best daughters in
the world. Charlie has obtained fine posi-
ton as trusted and confidential clerk in
large business house, and there is no longer
any necessity for my earnings by the needle
She did not seem TO realize any great change
probably did not feel any. Doubtless Sd.
still does the sewing for the household, makes
shirts for Charlie and helps the girls to
keep their wardrobes in good condition. But
the struggle Is over; she conquered difficulties
with the most slender Of weapons, the needle.
but with heroic patience and devotion, and
has her reward in the care. the security, the
filial love which renders her closing years the
brightest Of her life
There is a dressnlakers' union in New York
not fashionable dressmakers not those who
live IN fashionable side streets up town and
import costumes which cost several hundred
dollars, nor even those who live in the region
OF Lexington avenue, keep house and main
tain more or less proud constituency, but
the hard working rank and file of dress
makers, who earn a living and ask no odds of
This union gave a ball the other
evening, invited their friends, paid the ex-
penses and would have resented anv imputa-
ton Of not being perfectly competent to
do so.
The young women were a. handsome, as
ing body Of young women as could be |
brought together anywhere, and did not seem |
TO consider themselves in the least pitiable. |
A little conversation with one or two of them |
revealed the fact that they considered them
selves better of than formerly, because in |
in the receipt Of better paw. A girl who cnn
cut" and fit and "drape- there are
plenty of so-called dressmakers who cannot
pifp Al 4, --t
wants, one assured the writer, at e.. 80 per
lay and her meals. Although, as they do
not begin until O'Clock, and leave at 8, they
prefer not to wait for the late din
Ter, but take the midday lunch and supper
ifter they reach home.
Two young women who worked out at
iressmaking for a number of years in New
ork. saved up money enough to set up for
themselves in Brooklyn. They opened a little
tore where they sold trimmings, and did
general dressmaking business. They were not
Tery good dressmakers, for they lacked the
general culture and training which is of such
Ialue in any special pursuit. and they had
'icked up the business by working at low
wages in a great dress AMI furnishing estab-
lshment, But they were industrious and per-
evering, and so they got on. They lifted
he mortgage on the frame house in which
hey lived with their father and mother, and
hey prOspered until a Deer do we'll brother
anne back destitute from the west, with his
sife and baby, and fastened himself and
is family upon them. They took
i'm into the store-they did not
now what else to do-and in six months he
ad ruine1 their Business, DESTROYED their
redit, distracted their funds and broken
heir hearts One died of the shock of il